Donald Trump is in full meltdown mode. May he destroy his personal marketing campaign? | Arwa Mahdawi

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Donald Trump is in full meltdown mode. May he destroy his personal marketing campaign? | Arwa Mahdawi

What do you suppose Donald Trump does for stress reduction? Massages, possibly? Or maybe he binge-drinks Weight loss plan Coke whereas mattress rotting. Possibly he writes down his grievances on items of paper after which flushes them down the bathroom. It’s additionally potential he lets off steam by smashing gold trinkets along with his golf golf equipment and throwing paper towels at Puerto Ricans. That feels very on-brand.

No matter Trump does to handle his stress, I think about he’s doing quite a lot of it proper now. The convicted felon has had a horrible three weeks. Ever since Joe Biden dropped out of the race, issues have been going quickly downhill for Trump. His marketing campaign had been constructed round bashing Biden, whose frailty and psychological acuity made him a simple goal. With the way more energetic and coherent Kamala Harris as his opponent, Trump clearly doesn’t know what to do. His marketing campaign now appears to include nothing however racism, the revival of previous grudges, conspiracy theories and insults.

This technique isn’t precisely figuring out for him. A New York Instances/Siena Faculty ballot revealed on Saturday discovered Harris 4 factors forward within the essential battleground states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. This can be a large deal: when Biden was the nominee, Trump was both all the time barely forward in these states or the 2 males had been neck and neck. It’s not simply the polls which have shifted, media protection has, too. A month in the past, each headline appeared to be questioning Biden’s psychological competence; now, headlines are centered on Trump’s unhinged rambling.

Whereas Harris’s marketing campaign has big momentum and exudes competence, Trump is embroiled in chaos. One of many newest debacles? He was hacked. In a put up on Fact Social, Trump claimed the hack was “by the Iranian Authorities” and added: “By no means a pleasant factor to do!” No – but it surely offers an excellent alternative to remind everybody that Trump’s Twitter (now X) account was compromised in 2020 by Victor Gevers who efficiently guessed the password was “maga2020!” This was after the moral hacker hacked Trump’s Twitter in 2016 by guessing the password was “yourefired”, the catchphrase from The Apprentice. The person who needs voters to suppose he can handle nationwide safety can’t even handle his personal passwords.

Even an interview on Monday evening along with his pal Elon Musk was a rambling, grievance-filled catastrophe. It was additionally beset by critical technical points, main a Harris spokesman to quip that Trump’s marketing campaign is in service of “self-obsessed wealthy guys who … can’t run a livestream within the 12 months 2024”.

Trump isn’t coping with his stream of setbacks very effectively; in keeping with Republican sources quoted in a current Axios report, he “is struggling to get previous his anger”. The New York Instances has equally reported {that a} seething Trump repeatedly known as Harris a “bitch” in non-public – claims that Trump has denied, even if he’s fortunately known as the vice-president all method of names in public. Basically, he’s in full meltdown mode.

So too are Trump’s allies, who’re desperately begging their candidate to get a grip and begin specializing in precise points, relatively than private assaults. As an alternative of heeding this recommendation, nonetheless, Trump appears intent on alienating the individuals who will help him win. At a marketing campaign rally in Atlanta earlier this month, Trump picked a combat with Brian Kemp, Georgia’s standard Republican governor, whom he termed “little Brian” and accused of getting turned Georgia right into a “laughing inventory”. Georgia is a crucial state to win and, earlier than Biden dropped out, it appeared as if it was within the bag for Trump. Now he’s polling the identical as Harris. Making an enemy of Kemp is a horrible technique.

Whereas it’s extremely satisfying to think about a livid Trump setting his personal marketing campaign on fireplace, it’s essential to not be complacent. As we all know, issues change rapidly. Harris could also be on the up now, however she hasn’t received this election but. It’s additionally essential to not underestimate the risks a determined Trump poses. There’s an opportunity he would possibly implode, sure. However there’s additionally an opportunity he would possibly explode, leaving a hell of quite a lot of collateral injury in his wake. In an interview this weekend, Biden stated that, if Trump loses, he’s “not assured in any respect” there could be a peaceable switch of energy. Nor am I.

In case you had been questioning, by the way in which, there’s a actual reply to the query about how Trump manages his stress. Throughout a 2004 interview with Larry King, he stated: “I attempt to inform myself it doesn’t matter. Nothing issues … That’s how I deal with stress.” I want I may give that approach a go myself. The issue is, should you’re eager on issues similar to bodily autonomy and democracy, then this election actually does matter.

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist


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